Disc unit

ABSTRACT

It is an object of the invention to provide a disc unit having the small number of parts and capable of effecting fitting operation with ease. A chassis is fitted onto a holder which is fitted to a body frame to be movable up and down by way of dampers. Each damper is formed of a cylindrical body and a pair of flange portions are formed on both upper and lower end portions of each damper. A pair of first fitting portions each having a small diameter are formed adjacent to the inner sides of the flange portions. A pair of expansion portions having a large diameter are formed between the first fitting portions, and a second fitting portion is formed between the pair of expansion portions. There are formed on the holder a pair of supporting portions provided with notches which are formed to fit into the first fitting portions while there are formed notches on the side end portion of the chassis to fit into the second fitting portion.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a disc unit for reading out information stored in a disc such as CD (Compact Disk), DVD (Digital Versatile Disk) and the like by a pickup mechanism.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A pickup mechanism has been fitted to a disc unit by way of a damper serving as a vibration proof mechanism to prevent vibration from being transmitted thereto. For example, a first patent literature, i.e. JP 11-16336 A discloses a first damper mechanism provided on a strut which stands upright from a chassis for absorbing vibration generated in a direction of upright standing of the strut. Further, a second patent literature, i.e. JP 2000-291739 A discloses a vibration proof supporting unit provided with a damper having a hollow expansion portion and a holding portion for holding a fitting portion at the side of a chassis, and a supporting body to be inserted into the damper for positioning the damper. Still further, a third patent literature, i.e. JP 10-47401 A discloses a vibration proof unit provided with hollow damper rubber having a fitting portion provided between an upper extension portion and a lower extension portion and having a substantially gourd-shape in cross section, and a supporting shaft which stands upright on an optical disc drive unit body for engaging with and supporting the upper and lower extension portions of the damper rubber.

However, according to the first patent literature, since a spring and a rubber member serving as a damper mechanism are fixed by screws, thereby forming a mechanism having large number of parts constituting the damper, requiring much cost and taking a lot of trouble in fitting operation. Further, according to the second and third patent literatures, although the number of parts is reduced by constituting the damper with rubber and fitting the chassis to the damper per se, and the like, the supporting shaft for positioning the damper is needed so that the supporting body is fitted to the damper as disclosed in the second patent literature or the supporting shaft is formed in a vibration proof unit body as disclosed in the third patent literature, respectively so as to provided the supporting shaft. Still further, a collar is provided on the supporting body so as to clamp and support the damper in the second patent literature, and the damper is pressed by a pressing member in the third patent literature. Accordingly, the damper mechanism becomes complex and triggers the increase of cost.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

To that end, it is an object of the invention to provide a disc unit having small number of parts and capable of effecting fitting operation with ease.

The disc unit of the first aspect of the invention comprising a body frame having an opening area inside thereof, a holder fitted to the body frame to be movable up and down, a chassis disposed inside the opening area and mounting a pickup mechanism thereon, a holder for holding the side end portions of the chassis onto the body frame, and elastic members disposed opposite to the holder for holding the side end portions of the chassis onto the holder, characterized in that each of the elastic members is formed of a cylindrical body having a pair of flange portions at the upper and lower end portions thereof, a pair of first fitting portions having a small diameter formed adjacent to the inner side of the flange portions, a pair of expansion portions having a large diameter formed between the first fitting portions, a second fitting portion having a small diameter formed between the pair of expansion portions, and the holder has a pair of supporting portions each provided with notches formed to fit into the first fitting portions of the elastic members, and the chassis has notches formed on the side end portions thereof to fit into the second fitting portion of the elastic members.

The disc unit of the second aspect of the invention is characterized in that an interval between the pair of first fitting portions of the elastic members is set to be slightly smaller than an interval between the pair of supporting portions of the holder, and the elastic members are brought into pressure contact with and clamped between the supporting portions when the supporting portions are fitted in the first fitting portions.

The disc unit of the third aspect of the invention is characterized in that the side end portions of the chassis are brought into pressure contact with and clamped between the pair of expansion portions when the notches of the chassis are fitted in each second fitting portion of the elastic members.

With the configuration set forth above, the elastic member can be fitted in the holder by fitting the pair of first fitting portions formed in the elastic members in the pair of supporting portions provided on the holder and fitting the notches of the chassis in each second fitting portion, so that fixing members such as screws and the like other than the elastic members are dispensed with. That is, since the first fitting portions have small diameter portions formed between the flange portions and the expansion portions, when the supporting portions of the holder are fitted in the first fitting portions, they are clamped by the flange portions and the expansion portions, and hence firmly held thereby. Further, since the elastic members are fitted in the holder at both the upper and lower end portions thereof, the former can be held by the latter such that the former is not swung. Still further, since the second fitting portion has a small diameter portion formed between the expansion portions, when the side end portion of the chassis is fitted in the second fitting portion, they are clamped by the expansion portions to be firmly held thereby.

More still further, the elastic members are brought into pressure contact with and clamped between the supporting portions by setting the interval between the pair of first fitting portions so as to be slightly smaller than the interval between the pair of supporting portions, so that the elastic members can be more firmly held by the holder. In this case, the pair of expansion portions are pressed so that the side end portion of the chassis fitted in the second fitting portion can be more firmly brought into pressure contact with and clamped by the expansion portions.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view showing an internal structure of a disc unit according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view showing a pickup mechanism as illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view showing a chassis and a holder;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the holder taken along A-A in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a damper;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the damper;

FIG. 7 is a view for explaining a fitting state between the damper and supporting portions of the holder;

FIGS. 8(A) to 8(C) are views for explaining steps for fitting the damper and the chassis to the holder;

FIGS. 9(A) to 9(B) are views for explaining operating state between the chassis and the holder; and

FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing of a picture reproducer with a built-in disc unit of the invention.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

An embodiment of the invention is now described in detail. Since the working example described hereinafter is a preferred concrete example for working out the invention, it is variously limited technically, but the invention is not limited to the working example unless explicitly limiting the invention to the working example.

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view showing an internal structure of a disc unit according to an embodiment of the invention. An opening area 2 is formed by largely cutting the bottom surface of a body frame 1, and a chassis 3, described later, is formed inside the opening area 2. A front frame portion 5 for longitudinally guiding a tray 4 on which a disc is placed is formed in front (lower side in FIG. 1) of the body frame 1, and the tray 4 is carried in or out from the body frame 1 when a sliding groove 6 formed longitudinally on the lower surface of the tray 4 is fitted in a guiding projection 7 projected from the front frame portion 5. A tray rack 8 is disposed on the lower surface of the tray 4 in the longitudinal direction, wherein the tray rack 8 meshes a gear 10 which is rotated by a drive transmission mechanism 9 so as to control the tray 4 to move in the longitudinal direction. An upper frame portion 12 for carrying a damper 11 is extended on the body frame 1 over a carrying path of the tray 4.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a pickup mechanism mounted on the chassis 3. A motor provided with a turntable 13 which clamps and supports the disc is fixed to the chassis 3 and a pickup unit 15 is disposed in a rectangular opening area 14 formed in the central portion of the chassis 3. The damper 11 carried by the upper frame 12 is disposed over the turntable 13. The pickup unit 15 is slidably fitted onto a pair of stick-shaped guide 17 which are fixed to a supporting table 16 standing upright on the chassis 3, and it moves in the radial direction of the disc loaded on the turntable 13 so as to read out information stored in the disc.

A base table 18 is fixed to one side portion of the pickup unit 15 and the pickup unit 15 is conveyed to and positioned at a reading position when the base table 18 is moved by a rack/pinion mechanism 19. The rack/pinion mechanism 19 is driven by a drive transmission mechanism 20.

The front side end portion of the chassis 3 is fitted to a holder 21 which is disposed to be movable vertically at the side portion of the opening area 2 of the body frame 1 by way of two dampers 22, and a notch 23 is formed at the rear side end portion of the chassis 3 and fitted to the body frame 1 by way of a damper 24.

The damper 24 has engaging projections 25 which are projected at right and left end portions thereof, and the engaging projections 25 are fitted in longitudinal sliding grooves formed in the body frame 1 to be mounted therein. An engaging boss 26 projects from a front side of the holder 21 and it is retained by cam grooves which are formed on both sides a slider 27 by piercing the side surface of the slider 27 disposed on the body frame 1. When the slider 27 moves laterally, the holder 21 is moved vertically.

The slide 27 is driven when the tray 4 is carried in or out to lower the holder 21 so as to allow the chassis 3 to be in a state inclined downward. In this state, the clamper 11 and the turntable 13 are rendered in a state to be remote from each other, which render the disc in a state to be conveyed.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a fitting state of the chassis 3 and the holder 21 by exploding thereof. FIG. 3 omits parts of a pickup mechanism so as to facilitate the explanation. The chassis 3 has notches 28 in which the dampers 22 are fitted, and the holder 21 has supporting portions 29 extended therefrom, and the supporting portions 29 have notches 30 in which the dampers 22 are fitted. FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the holder 21 taken along A-A in FIG. 3. As shown in FIG. 4, the supporting portions 29 are extended from the upper end portion and the lower end portion of the holder 21.

As shown in a perspective view in FIG. 5 and a sectional view in FIG. 6, the damper 22 is formed of a rubber material in a cylindrical shape, and has flange portions 31 at the upper and lower end portions. A pair of first fitting portions 33 are formed in a small diameter at the inner portions of the flange portions 31. A pair of expansion portions 32 are formed in a large diameter adjacent to the first fitting portions 33, and a second fitting portion 34 having a small diameter is formed between the pair of expansion portions 32. The notches 30 of the pair of supporting portions 29 are fitted in the pair of first fitting portions 33, and the notches 28 of the chassis 3 are fitted in the second fitting portion 34. As shown in FIG. 7, since an interval between the first fitting portions 33 is set to be slightly larger than an interval between the notches 30, when the dampers 22 are fitted in the pair of supporting portions 29 of the holder 21, the pair of expansion portions 32 are pressed toward the second fitting portion 34 to be fitted to the supporting portions 29. Accordingly, the dampers 22 are brought into pressure contact with and clamped between the pair of supporting portions 29. Further, since the flange portions 31 and the expansion portions 32 are brought into contact with the supporting portions 29 from the above and below so that the dampers 22 are firmly held by the holder 21.

FIG. 8 is a view for explaining steps for fitting the damper 22 and the chassis 3 to the holder 21. Although FIGS. 8(A) to 8(C) show one damper, both dampers are always fitted to the holder at the same time. As shown in FIG. 8(A), the damper 22 is inserted into the holder 21 from the extension direction of the supporting portions 29. When the damper 22 is inserted into the supporting portions 29 to fit the first fitting portions 33 in the notches 30, the expansion portions 32 are brought into pressure contact by the supporting portions 29 so as to render the second fitting portion 34 to be in a compressed state (FIG. 8(B)). Then, the notches 28 of the chassis 3 are inserted into the respective compressed second fitting portions 34 to be fitted in the second fitting portions 34, the notches 28 are brought into pressure contact with and clamped between the pair of expansion portions 32 (FIG. 8(C)).

As mentioned above, when the dampers 22 and the chassis 3 are inserted into the holder 21, the chassis 3 can be firmly retained by the holder 21, thereby extremely simplifying the fitting operation.

FIG. 9 is a view showing a state when the holder 21 is moved upward and downward. FIG. 9(A) shows a state where the holder 21 is in an upwardly moved position and FIG. 9(B) shows a state where the holder 21 is in a downwardly moved position. When the holder 21 is in a upwardly moved position, the notches of the chassis 3 are fitted in the respective second fitting portions 34 so as to be substantially in parallel with the supporting portions 29 of the holder 21, while when the holder 21 is moved downward, the chassis 3 rotates downward about the damper 24 fitted to the body frame 1, and rendered in an inclined state. Accordingly, the notches of the chassis 3 and the supporting portions 29 of the holder 21 are not rendered in a parallel state, but the pair of expansion portions 32 for bringing into pressure contact with and clamping the notches of the chassis 3 are deformed so as to keep a state to bring into pressure contact with and clamp the chassis 3.

As mentioned above, since the notches of the chassis 3 are kept in a state to be brought into pressure contact with and clamped by the expansion portions 32 even if the chassis 3 is rendered in an inclined state, so that the fitting position of the chassis 3 is neither displaced or come off. The reason why such an operation and effect can be effected is that the dampers 22 have flange portions at the upper and lower portions, and the first fitting portions to the expansion portions are integrally formed, wherein the supporting portions 29 of the holder 21 are brought into pressure contact with and clamped by the first fitting portions with sufficient strong force, so that the expansion portions are not displaced form the holder, and also since the notches of the chassis 3 is brought into pressure contact with and clamped between the expansion portions, the chassis 3 are not displaced from the expansion portions.

FIG. 10 shows a picture reproducer 100 serving as electronic equipment with a built-in disc unit of the invention described above. A disc unit 101 is built in a housing of the picture reproducer 100, and a tray 103 is fed out from and fed in an opening provided in a front panel 102. A main control substrate 104 is disposed adjacent to the disc unit 101, and a display substrate 105 is fitted to the front face side of the main control substrate 104. A display panel is exposed on the opening of the front panel 102 and operation buttons are disposed under the opening.

When the operation buttons are operated, the tray 103 of the disc unit 101 is fed out, and a storage disc is placed on the tray 103 which is subsequently fed in the disc unit 101. Then, as mentioned above, the chassis 3 in the disc unit 101 is moved upward and downward, so that the storage disc is clamped between the turntable and the clamper.

Since the chassis 3 is supported by the damper as described above, it is excellent in vibration proof, thereby forming a picture reproducer having high safety.

The disclosure of Japanese Patent Application No. 2004-074934 including specification, claims, and drawings, is incorporated herein by literature. 

1. A disc unit comprising a body frame having an opening area inside thereof, a holder fitted to the body frame to be movable up and down, a chassis disposed inside the opening area and mounting a pickup mechanism thereon, a holder for holding the side end portions of the chassis onto the body frame, and elastic members disposed opposite to the holder for holding the side end portions of the chassis onto the holder; wherein each of the elastic members is formed of a cylindrical body having a pair of flange portions at the upper and lower end portions thereof, a pair of first fitting portions having a small diameter formed adjacent to the inner side of the flange portions, a pair of expansion portions having a large diameter formed between the first fitting portions, a second fitting portion having a small diameter formed between the pair of expansion portions; and wherein the holder has a pair of supporting portions each provided with notches formed to fit into the first fitting portions of the elastic members, and the chassis has notches formed on the side end portions thereof to fit into the second fitting portion of the elastic members.
 2. A disc unit according to claim 1, wherein an interval between the pair of first fitting portions of the elastic members is set to be slightly smaller than an interval between the pair of supporting portions of the holder, and the elastic members are brought into pressure contact with and clamped between the supporting portions when the supporting portions are fitted in the first fitting portions.
 3. A disc unit according to claim 2, wherein the side end portions of the chassis are brought into pressure contact with and clamped between the pair of expansion portions when the notches of the chassis are fitted in each second fitting portion of the elastic members.
 4. Electronic equipment provided with the disc unit according to claim
 1. 